Whew! I’ll tackle a couple:
[quote]1 - Auto-Siphon - Are we retarded? We start it, it seems just fine, then about 30 seconds into the siphon, we start to see aeration. Did we get a defective one? I’d be happy to post a video so people can help diagnose. I vote “we got a defective one,” but I’m more than willing to admit I am prone to fault. So - thoughts?
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I believe it is just co2 being agitated out of solution, and have heard this is a common occurrence.
[quote]3 - Cleaning the top/lid/upper portion of a vessel - when we soak a bucket or carboy with starsan, it soaks everything but the very upper portion (including the lid) of the vessel. What’s the best way to sanitize that area?
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Use dissolved oyclean and scrub very lightly/gently with a soft wet cloth. I remove all the gunk first with a rubber spatula and then spray. Then scrub. It’s ok for the fermenter to take on some color- I think it’s from the hops. Starsan is a contact sanitizer so soaking is overkill.
[quote]4 - Assuming the items we start with are reasonably clean, using PBW, do we really need to soak it 25-30 minutes, THEN star-san for 30 minutes? Or did we pull those time estimates from the dark nether regions…?
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Yes quite possibly and see previous comment.
[quote]5 - WTF is up with the bubbles from Star-San? That can’t be tasty… I just can’t fathom the idea that adding StarSan to my beer without rinsing to remove as much as possible doesn’t effect the taste at all. Is it truly so?
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Ignore them. Yes I know it is hard to as we know soap is nasty. Different beast altogether.
[quote]6 - What’s the benefit to wait the full 10 days when it says 7-10 days (for primary fermentation) before transferring to secondary? It’s probably worse to do so early, rather than late, right?
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Good question. Yes. Go a bit longer- like 14 days.
[quote]9. Any downside to using the 3-piece airlocks for 1st and 2nd stage? Is there a reason that the S-shape ones are better for one or the other?
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Don’t bother with primary. Lid cracked on bucket is fine. I just place the lid on. Secondary fermentation yes, and as far as I can see no real difference except the s-shaped appears harder to clean.
Enough for me. Somebody else jump in.